Zolinza for maintenance in glioblastoma
With the advent of biologic therapies, many new avenues to approach recalcitrant and difficult diseases have emerged. Once such cancer is the brain cancer glioblastoma(GBM). It is tempting to use Zolinza(vorinostate) for maintenance after attaining a remission of glioblastoma, because this is a disease that almost always comes back.
Unfortunately, there is as of yet no literature supporting the use of Zolnza for maintenance for gliolastoma. A recent study for recurrent disease by Galanis et al concluded that vorinostat monotherapy is well tolerated in patients with recurrent GBM and has modest single-agent activity. Histone acetylation analysis and RNA expression profiling, sophisticated wyas to look at what this drug is doing to the cancer cells, indicate that vorinostat in this dose and schedule affects target pathways in GBM. Additional testing of vorinostat in combination regimens is warranted.
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